This news is important for more than just the removal of two poachers who sought to profit from the death and suffering of an animal.

First, the length of these sentences shows the judiciary in South Africa is waking up to the realisation that wildlife trafficking is a serious crime that costs lives, ruins biodiversity and undermines the law and must be punished with strong sanctions. For too long, international criminal syndicates have viewed wildlife trafficking as a high-reward, low-risk endeavour and have acted with impunity.

IFAW works extensively with INTERPOL’s Environmental Crime Programme to bring these criminals to justice, but without stiff penalties like those seen in South Africa, there will be new poachers ready to take the place of those who were arrested. The prospect of 29 years behind bars will make people think twice before engaging in wildlife trafficking.

The other reason this sentencing is so positive is that the men were also charged with weapons offences. This indicates at least that there is growing cooperation amongst the law enforcement agencies in South Africa. If we are going to stop poachers and traffickers it will only be through cooperation between customs officers, wildlife rangers, police forces and, in some cases, the military. That’s why IFAW funds training sessions that promote interagency cooperation. We introduce colleagues to one another to build a network capable of taking on these international criminal syndicates.